Pertamina Calls South Sumatra In The Future As Indonesia's Geothermal Barn

BENGKULU - Operations Director of PT Pertamina Geothermal Energi (PGE) Eko Agung Bramantyo when meeting Bengkulu Governor Rohidin Mersyah conveyed that the southern part of Sumatra, namely Bengkulu, South Sumatra and Lampung will become Indonesian geothermal (hot) barns.

"The southern Sumatran region (Sumsel, Bengkulu and Lampung) in the future will become Indonesia's fairly large geothermal barn," said Eko Agung Bramantyo as quoted by Antara, Friday, May 12.

Eko said that the geothermal energy of South Sumatra has begun to be utilized, such as the Muara Enim area of South Sumatra, which is currently operating.

Bengkulu is also ready to be utilized with a geothermal potential capacity of 110 Megawatts. However, currently, there are a few problems with the construction of the plant, so that energy cannot be streamlined.

"Around 110 Megawatts (MW) are ready, it remains only to be channeled to the generators that will be managed by PT PLN. Indeed, the schedule is slightly delayed, because the readiness of existing generators is related to auctions and loans," he said.

For Bengkulu, according to Eko, development is also continuing because geothermal potential cannot be seen directly, but regional development is necessary.

According to him, if the current coverage is small, additional exploration will be carried out and of course it is not impossible to develop more.

"The Bukit Barisan area in Sumatra has great geothermal potential if additional exploration continues. So that if this geothermal has been managed, and is utilized, of course, it will be a solution to overcome electricity problems in Bengkulu," he said.